Foot supporter



g- 5, 1930- I w. w. PETERSON 1,772,364

FOOT SUPPORTER Filed April 30, 1928 INVENTOR A TTORNBi:

fi/aZZer Zdfdevdmz '5 formed of a light eightmetal such as Patented Au5, 1930 c 7 roo'rsurronrna' Application fiie'aia rii -so, was; swimwear1,041;

This invention relates to andhas-for a main object the provision of animproved type of foot supporteradaptedto be castin a single piece froman exact pattern of a foot and aluminum or'an alloy thereof, orberyllium,

and provided with a baked enamel -finishg throughout its entire" area. v-An important ob 'ect of this; invention s 10 to provide afootcsupporter based'onanew and novel principle of. design in whichconsideration is given to theshape' ofthe entire foot Which correspondsvsubstantially to a half-dome in contra-distinction to. an arch :1 or aseries of arches, as viewed fro1n=th'ei'n--f ner sideof the foot, thedistal ends of the metatarsals, the cuboid and s calcls defining:thebase of the halfldoine. Y

Contrary tothe; general practice of pro- J2 viding-whatihave been termedas arch supporters byothers seeking to correct deformities in the foot:by suitably curved plates of sheet metal, leather and the hke, eitherconstructed'ofone or "more pieces of either or 1 2 both of suchmater1als, I have provided what in effect is more than an archsupporteriand actually provides afirmsupport for the foot Which, inaddition to, supporting the foot,

' rests beneath and extends upwardly around -3 the back-and-outer sideof the heel and around the inner side of the foot so as to prevent thelateral deviation of the foot from its natural longitudinalplane ofalin'ement. v 'In other types :of foot supports,the plates l formingcthesupporting'surfaces havebeen I extent have been curved upwardly aroundthe'metatarsals and provide on the forward i first metatarsal, thecuboid and thefirst cuneiform so that itvvill conformto the cur extendedforvvardlyto points beneath the distal ends of the metatarsals, and tosome the posterior surface of theghe'el; Whereas I in my improvedapplianceI terminate the supporter'rearwardly of the distal heads ofvend thereof a substantially flattened portion whereby the supporter mayhaveal fi rm base on the shoe. 'fA'ddition ally I accentuate thatportion of the supporter Which underlies the vature 'ofthe inner side ofthe foot and will extend upwardly around the inner side it themetatarsal and cuneiform portions.

Having thus provided a footzsupporter .ivithjan accentuated portion atits rear end which extends substantially upwardly? over and around theouter side of the heel and near; its central portion vhas an accentuatedupwardly extended portion over andaroundtheinstep or half dome,'thesli'ding' or slipping of the heel inthe supporter and the consequentdeviationof the heel. injthe sup porterand the consequent deviation'ofthe watrnni wrnrnnson, or Los ANenLEs, CALIFORNIA heel; outwardly fromalinement is prevented, 7

hile afirni supporting surface is provided I I orthose portions of thefootwhere any eakness or deformity mayexist. 1

ill be understood t-hatno attempt is made" to correct or support anyso-called varches other than the halfdome thus described,nor

In the considerationof my invention, :it

to prevent any slipping of the heel except I laterally.

particular object of my inventionisto terminate the footsupporter at apoint rear vvardly of the ball of the foot so that it will g beposterior to the maximum point of'bend of the shoe, thus facilitatingWalking when the plates are in use and renderingthe use thereofsubstantially more comfortable than g Wouldotherwise bepossible; 3 i 0her objects mayappear as the description progresses. V In theaccompanyingidravv ings I have shownv a preferred form of inventionsubject to modifications Within the scope of the appendedClillHlS'WithOllt departing from thespirit thereof. In said drawing,

- Fig. 1 ism inside view inelevation of a foot s1.'1pporter constructedin accordancewith inyinvention and adapted for use on a right foot,thefigure of afoot being shovvnin a broken hnesproperly positioned Witllrespect i to the supporter. i .i v

21s a side elevation of the sameas seen from the outer side thereof; 1 4e 'F1g.31S a front endelevation of the same i as'seen frem line 33 of Fi2; v F 4 5 i rear end elevation thereof a i seen from lin 4 '-4 Fig.2;i:

Fig. 5,is atop plan vievvof the same.

5 In consideration of my invention it Willbe understood that I constructmy improved foot supporters by means of an improved technique whichconsists in making a plaster mod- (21 of each individual foot, thenforming a pattern "of the support on the model with suitable waxcomposition. This pattern is then used for making a metal casting whichis exact 1n size and form to the requirements of a particular foot. Themetal employed in aluminum because of itslight weioht,

making the castsupporter is preferably of. and for the further reasonthat it is susceptible toa highpolish. The metal casting is polished'throughout its entire area on both its upper and lower sides and 1sfinally treated with a baked enamel, thus providing a. smooth glossysurface which is low in frictional qualities and at the same timeprovides a comfortable, convenient, non-corrodible and nonabsorptivesupporter for the foot.

7 "I contemplate the use of a new element known as beryllium as soon assuch material is economically available, and possibly other metals-or"alloys' which possess the qualities hereinbefore named may beemployed in the construction of my supports with satisfactory results.

Referringnow to the particular form of my improved supporter, it will benoted by reference to Fig.1 thatthe forward terminus E v ofthe supporterS is so disposed on the foot relative to the base of the half dome andthe distal ends .of the metatarsal bones that the ball of the foot mayfreely flex in a walking operation. The frontedge E is preferably formedin an irregular arc, the axis of which is substantially on thelongitudinal medial line ofthe foot. From this medial line the I endErecedes gradually in the direction of and merges with'the outer edge eand the inner edge e inconvenient curves conforming substantially to thearc of the distal ends of the metatarsals. From the junction point ofthe front edge E and the inner edge ethe supporter is bent upwardly in agradual and graceful curve to a point beneath the upper end of the firstmetatarsal and the first cuneiform, as at a, thus providing ahalf domelike portionwhich underlies the half dome of the foot and serves tosupport the dome against collapse and spreading in the case of -Weaknessor deformity at such points. The

is disposed approximately at an angle of w from the base of the dome.The heel portion H is cupped and the inner side thereof isslightly'bowled at h to conform to the natural curvature of the heel sothat a comfortable and convenient heel socket will be provided Theportion H is continued around the outer sideof the heel for asubstantial distance and at an elevation above the base of the dome.

sufiicient to prevent a lateral movement or deviation of the 0s calcisfrom its natural alignment with the other bones of the foot, as at'i. fw The portion i'may terminate at-any convenient point on the outersideof and opposite the astragalus, depending upon the nature, form, comfortand deformity of a particular foot. From the point 2' the outer side ofthe plate is then turned downwardly at an incline a" where it mergeswith the outeredgee of th'e sole portion E.

' It will be readily understood that it is necessary in all cases toconform the plate S to the exact requirements of certain portions of thefoot and. approximately to other portions of the foot, so that it isimpossible to define a contour or crosssectional form of a footsupporter enibodying my invention which will be applicable to all casesof foot correction. It will be noted, however, that theaccentuatedcurvedand upwardly extended portions a and H engagerespectively the inner side of the foot at the apex of the half domeandthe outer side of the heel, thus preventing the lateral deviation of thebones of the foot from a natural alinement. This is very-important infoot correction for the reason that the tendency of a foot having acollapsing dome is to slide the os calcis laterally when the weight ofthe body is placed on thefoot. 3 I

IVhen a supporter is constructed in accordance with the technique and'ofthe form hereinbefore described, there canlbe no relative movementlaterally between'the'foot' and the supporter, and yet a freedom oflongitudinal movement and articulation is permitted.

I desire to emphasize the fact that in the production of myimprovedsupporter I have considered the foot as a half domewith a collapsingapex and a deviating base instead of a seriesof arches, and to this endhave pro vided'a distinctive foot supporter of new and novelcharacteristics;

Attention is called to the fact that a sup-Y porter'of thecharactershown and described will not absorb or induce body perspiration. It willbe observed by reference to the drawing that'when the foot is consideredas a half dome the-portion a conforms substantially to the curve andplane of the half dome portion of the foot and the apex of the upwardlybent and laterally inclined portion a is disposed adjacent the tubercleof the scaphoid, or substantially so. p Also, the heel socket H isinclined'upwardly from the point 7) near the bottom and adjacent theinterior lateral surface of the astragalus around the posterior endthereof and is continued at a substantial elevation above the base ofthe dome around the external lateral surface of v the astragalus, fromwhich plane it declines more or less gradually as required to merge withthe outer lateral edge e. i

What I claim is: 1. A foot supporter comprising an integral cast metalplate having a heel socket with its outerside bent upwardly tosubstantially conform to the height of the os calcis and to extendaround and in conformity with the heel, and its inner side bent butslightly upwardly from the base, the forward portion tiallyfiushwith thetop of the 0s calcis, an

instep portion bent upwardly and inclined laterally from the base to apoint beneath and having its apex adjacent the tubercle of the scaphoid,the forward end of said support being arcuately formed and terminatingposteriorly of the distal heads of the metatarsals. V

3. A foot supporter formed of a single piece, of cast metal and havingits anterior end arranged to be disposed posteriorly of the distal headsof the metatarsals, an inner lateral portion bent upwardly and inclinedlaterally, and its posterior end portion forming a heel socket and bentupwardly around the outer lateral surface and outer portion of the heelso that its periphery will be sub stantially flush with the upper sideof the os calcis. v r v I WALTER W. PETERSON.

